Mists of Salamira

[ally, pc-turned-passive] Relcor Salamir

Middle aged scholar gone hermit gone warlock from Salamis.

Description:

Bio:

Relcor was born of “middle class” (as much as can exist in feudalism I suppose). His father was a talented map maker and cartographer in service to the royalty of Salamis. His mother was a mild manner, but very skilled, calligrapher. It was from them that Relcor learned to read and write well, and thus he started his learning early. He loved what few books he could find around his house and eventually came to “borrow”/steal from the Royal Library.
When a boy, albeit an older boy, Relcor’s mother injured herself while cooking for the family. In order to keep enough income coming to feed the family of Relcor, his parents, and his 4 siblings, he went to work. In this he swept and cleaned floors, and was lucky enough to be able work close to his father as he cleaned both the Royal Hall and the Guild halls.
It was through this that he met Old Storn Hardhead. A stubborn but slightly comical old man. Storn was a professor at the Royal Hall, knowledgable in a variety of ways in both the magical and nonmagical studies, though he himself taught astronomy/astrology. It was through Old Storn that Relcor learned more of the scholarly life, despite how foreign and mysterious it seemed to him. Storn and the adolescent Relcor were friendly, as Storn always thanking Relcor for his cleaning and work, as well as telling him the occasional joke. Over Relcor’s years working and cleaning he and Storn grew closer, even friends.
Once Relcor came of age to further his expertise in either guild knowledge or some other livelihood, he was conflicted. He wished to do something he was sure to be able to succeed at, such as craft artisan or a guild member, but he longed for the intellectual component of gaining the much more exclusive college training, given by the Royal Hall.
With his mother regaining her health and ability to work, Relcor’s selling of his extraneous and superfluous possessions (though how few they were), and financial help from Old Storn, Relcor studied at the Royal Hall.
He flourished in some subjects (philosophy, rhetoric, logic, grammar, religion/theology) and struggled in others (mathematics, magic(!), alchemy, chemistry, physics), but eventually learned to be at least average in all areas.
He considered ending his studies after a couple years and pursuing a more monastic lifestyle as a cleric but ultimately decided to continue his learning after Storn pulled some strings to get him a part time job as Librarian’s assistant while he continued studying.
Eventually, Storn died. He left to Relcor his notes, written upon scroll after scroll and book after book.
Not even one year later, Relcor was accepted into the Royal Hall as a professor and moved on from his place at the library. He taught mainly religion and philosophy, although he was able to provide whatever teaching was required. But he stayed away from wizardry the most.
A few years later he was in a disagreement with the headmaster of the Royal Hall, Torgen, a powerful wizard and well-respected throughout the capital. It started as a scholarly dispute over the nature of magic and reality and the physical and metaphysical explanations for it. After heated arguments, the disagreement devolved into ill will, with Torgen feeling humiliated in front of those subordinate and under him. Insulted, he had Relcor’s father removed from his position. He started digging up dirt on Relcor and found notes and books, forbidden and ancient tomes. Much of their content, whether dark magic or rewritten histories, could be incriminating, though Relcor was motivated and interested out of scholarly curiosity. Torgen brought this to Relcor, demanding he not only step down never to return, but also a hefty sum of gold, one which broke Relcor.
Moneyless and bereft of a career, with no possibilities, Relcor took to the wilderness and lived there in seclusion. Though first he stole several books from the library, along with his own.
There he continued his learning and theorizing of his various studies, alone. Isolation had its share of problems: various dangers and a lack of books, at least comparatively. To combat this Relcor attempted minor wizardry to protect himself. This not only proved insufficient, but did not help with increasing his knowledge.
A little while into his new life as a hermit he ran into a wandering Trader. The small fellow was a former alchemist who decided to set off for an unknown destination after the few loved ones he had died. His name: Zantumal Silvershaker. He was a cheery little guy, at least as cheery as is normal for what he was going through, and very clever as well as trained in alchemy. The two formed a friendship and Zantumal stayed with Relcor for a couple weeks. He would go off on trips into various towns seeing if he could find it suitable but would eventually find it unbearable and went back to the wilds, occasionally visiting Relcor for a day or two. Their conversation was not only one of scholarly discussion but of emotional as well. They both also loved the others’ stories.
When he just started to feel defeated a thought came to him. It seemed quiet and cold. It echoed through his head, in a way. It told him the Ancient Ones grant great knowledge and power. Seek this. He understood this, his readings informed him of a different type of magic. One made through pacts with great beings of power. He was interested in this, objectively, during his academic time, but now it seemed very enticing.
When the two first entered into this pact, Relcor was offered a vision of knowledge, as a sign of good faith. He learned that Torgen was not only a rival of opposite academic views but a dark and powerful wizard, who knew some of Relcor’s secret studies long before he claimed to stumble upon the forbidden knowledge Relcor was learning. Torgen in fact felt threatened and deposed of Relcor at first convenience, in attempts to prevent any further gains in power that might threaten his position.
And so he made a pact. His dedication to great and dark powers seem to conflict with his ethical and moral standing, but he justified it to himself. He would have to perform deeds for SDLSDLS but he would never harm an innocent. He sees no conflict of interests or cognitive dissonance. But who is to say he is or isn’t just ignoring this and lying to himself?
Relcor eventually received an assignment as part of his pact agreement. He should continue to seek out knowledge independent of reliance on his pact, and should also join with adventurers. In this he would be most likely to find the hidden and forgotten lores, as well as gain the trust of powerful people who could protect Relcor in these often times very dangerous adventures. Relcor liked this idea and also decided this would be a good way to help others throughout their travels.
He and Zantumal parted ways, having a strange feeling they’d meet again someday. With their parting handshake Relcor went to find what would become his adventuring party.